Last March, my family and I embarked on a week-long adventure to England. After an exciting weekend in London, we all hopped on a train to Birmingham to visit my brother’s university campus.

Travelling this path brought back memories of a trip to the English countryside we’d made three years ago. Back then, we visited sites that made the old fashioned / dreamy person that I am absolutely amazed – you know when you literally can’t breathe because you’re seeing something extraordinary like Brad Pitt? Well, that’s how I felt when I saw Chatsworth House and Oxford University, woot woot!

If you are interested in visiting the English countryside, I highly recommend you see the places I explored three years ago. Before I move on to this year’s countryside adventures, I concocted a small #travelthrowback photo summary with the tiny bit of information that my long-term memory remembers.

Here are my countryside must-sees!

Stonehenge

Or the mystery of how prehistoric men transported heavy rocks to make a circle.

Bath

Take a peek at the first photo and guess why they named the city that way.

Cambridge and Oxford

York

Chatsworth House

Mr. Darcy’s house in the Pride and Prejudice movie – or where I will get married.

I also visited Stratford-upon-Avon (Shakespeare’s hometown), but since I don’t have any good photos of the town, I will provide you instead with some gems that I snapped around the countryside…and I dare you to find them!

Other than the small bits of informations that pictures allowed me to recall, I remember Cambridge students rowing down a river. I remember buying Pride and Prejudice in Chatsworth House’s tourist shop. And I remember our tour guide, Simon, who made our minds wander with all his beautiful stories spoken with a true english accent. We loved him so much we booked him for our trip this year!

But still, I find it crazy that I remember so little.

If you are travelling, enjoy the present moment, for the feelings of amazement will last, but memories will unfortunately fade. Still, those feelings have got to be pretty strong for us to always want to make new fading travelling memories.

Last March, my family and I flew to England, thrilled to visit my little brother after three long months of separation! On his side of the world, Ced was joyfully enjoying the student exchange experience, casually travelling every other weekend and studying “on the side”.

After several hours of plane travelling, my mother, father, little brother and I lined up in front of Ced’s hotel room and knocked impatiently on the door. We heard my brother get up and walk slowly before opening, a big smile on his face. Arms wide he said, “Hi Gab!” and we hugged, so happy.

Thanks to our late arrival, we had the glamorous hotel’s restaurant to ourselves, except for two young women dressed in long sparkly gowns who definitely surprised us with their glitz! We chatted while my brother devoured his huge pasta plate. He had been living the cool & chill hostel life for a couple of weeks now, and his belly was very happy with the fancy food coming in.

London is home to so many beautiful things that I love: classy cabs, lovely accents, tea & biscuits, chatty pubs, ancient architecture… It feels like New York City’s elegant and slightly more mature sister. With its ethnically diverse people, innovative professionals, and student population, the city is always alive and evolving.

Having played tourists in London before, and having done the things to do in London visiting Big Ben, Tower Bridge, London Eye, Hyde Park, Buckingham Palace and the list goes on, we decided to go for new attractions this time. We payed short visits to the crowded Tate Modern and British Museum, and went up the very expensive Shard Tower.

Crowds in front of the British Museum

But the touristy activities did not even make my top ten list.

What I loved most was seeing the Stomp show, which was refreshingly original, full of movement and surprisingly funny. I cherished spending time with my reunited family. And I adored listening to every single story my jet-setter friends told me.

When I visit a city, I love to put the local’s shoes on, walk his streets, taste his food, sit on his bus, with my beloved camera hooked around my neck ready to take a snap. I put my childish eyes on and feel like I’m discovering the world for the first time. If you like travelling this way, then you should pay a visit to the three neighbourhoods below the next time you’re in London!

Notting Hill

On my first morning in London, I woke up excitedly as I had a very important brunch to attend to. Typical British weather was definitely au rendez-vous that day, but I could only feel sunshine in my heart! I was about to see my friend Véro for the first time in a year in a half; the last time had been during our trip to Italy and Czech Republic. Not much had happened to Véro since then…she had only gotten married, traveled all around Europe and moved to London. Nothing very special right?

I spotted her across the street in Notting Hill, where she lives, happily waving at me. We both ran to the middle of the street, only to be awkwardly separated by a fence forbidding us to hug. Véro pointed towards the right and I followed her, walking all the way to the end of the fence before hugging her and jumping of happiness. Right away, we started talking and laughing about everything. It was like I had seen her the day before.

We had the most delicious healthy brunch at the Farm Girl Cafe, where the relaxed Australian vibe stole my heart. The green turquoise walls and beautiful light coming in on the wood tables take you out of London directly to sunshine country. Behind the bar, on which stands baskets of colourful snacks and a huge coffee machine, the staff cooks the most delicious delicacies. The latte, granola bowl, and avocado toast were heaven.

It only makes sense that the cutest breakfast place is located in Notting Hill, where you could spend your days observing adorable things! At this time of the year, blooming cherry blossom trees stand beautifully before adorable houses painted in pastel colours. Independent coffee shops pop everywhere; we grabbed a coffee for Véro’s husband at one of those before heading to their apartment where we chatted for a couple of hours until they had to leave for a vacation in Japan and I had to get back to my family.

Neal’s Yard in Covent Garden

Before flying off to her next destination, Véro revealed London’s best kept secret to me: Neal’s Yard. I shared the tip with my family over breakfast the next morning and with the trick of a photo, they were on board to visit Covent Garden’s small alley.

One step in, and you’ve entered London’s colour fantasy land. It is breathtakingly different and beautiful. The houses are all painted in different colours that fit with one another even though they are never the same. Flora grows on brick walls, picnic tables and balconies, and festive light bulbs strings connect houses.

Me in front of yummy 26 Grains

Soho

My mother, father and little brother love afternoon napping when they travel. I am starting to think that in their previous lives, they lived in Southern Europe where they invented the siesta. While all of this is very exciting, my brother Ced and I prefer staying out and walking till we can’t cause our feet burn!

On a beautiful afternoon, after a quick lunch with the fam at a cafe, Ced and I walked around Soho for hours, losing track of time. We loved it! The neighbourhood is full of life, amusement, shops and restaurants. I felt a New York vibe there, and I do love that city!

We walked and walked and walked, stopped to listen to a guy rapping in the street, crowds cheering all around. I took a bunch of pictures. We finally talked about Ced’s exchange experience and discussed our future, hopes and dreams.

That night, we had another lovely family dinner at Arbutus, where the food was exquisitely delicious. The next day, we would leave for Birmingham to visit my brother’s new campus home, and would then get on the road and discover the charming countryside of England.

My two little brothers loving their huge platter of sea food!

That’s when my head started to get pretty dreamy. What can I say, I love embarking imaginary trains to Hogwarts every now and then. Can anyone blame me?